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Should conversion disorder be reclassified as a dissociative disorder in DSM V?

Brown RJ, Cardeña E, Nijenhuis E, Sar V, van der Hart O

School of Psychological Sciences, Academic Division of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester, 2nd Floor, Zochonis Building, Brunswick Street, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK. richard.james.brown@manchester.ac.uk

Pseudoneurological symptoms (i.e., conversion disorder), historically subsumed within the "hysteria" concept alongside phenomena such as psychogenic amnesia and multiple personality disorder, have been classified as somatoform disorders since DSM-III. Since then, there have been repeated calls to reclassify conversion disorder with the dissociative disorders, as in ICD-10. The authors review issues such as the high correlations between pseudoneurological and dissociative symptoms, the high rates of trauma reported for both groups, and the position that these phenomena share underlying processes. Although reintegrating pseudoneurological symptoms with the dissociative disorders is not without complications, there is a strong case for such a reclassification.

Published 19 September 2007 in Psychosomatics, 48(5): 369-78.
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